Aston Villa defender Alex Moreno stepped up his comeback on Monday night, as he featured for the U21s and gained important playing time.
The Spaniard has yet to feature for the first-team so far this season, as he has continued his recovery from the hamstring injury he sustained at the end of the last campaign.
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A setback in September ensured that his return was delayed further, but the signs have been positive in recent weeks as he has been back in group training with the senior squad since last month.
While the wait to see him back in action has continued, there was an important step forward this week, as he played for 63 minutes for Villa U21s against Swansea’s youth side, in what is a big step towards building his match fitness and sharpness back up after his lengthy layoff to come back into contention.
Hopefully, Moreno came through unscathed and he’ll continue to train with the first team over the international break to prepare for a return later this month, or perhaps in early December.
Nevertheless, this was important progress for him to get back out on the pitch and get used to the intensity and tempo of a game environment again, and he’ll hopefully be able to feature off the bench in our upcoming games to give Unai Emery another key option.
Although Lucas Digne has done an excellent job in his absence at left-back, not only performing at a high level but also offering reliability and consistency in terms of his availability, there is no doubt that it will be an important boost for Villa and Emery to have Moreno back pushing him for that starting spot.
The 30-year-old was an instant hit after his arrival in January, as he showed he can be an integral piece in Emery’s system and style of play with what he brings in the attacking phase through his speed, technical quality and creativity.
Coupled with an improvement in his defensive work, it will be a real lift to have Moreno available again off the back of this crucial run out.
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